Gaddafi lobbied West to save regime

The Gaddafi regime carried out an extraordinary clandestine lobbying operation to try to stop Nato’s bombardment of Libya, and believed the western allies were likely to launch a full-scale invasion in “either late September or October”.

The Gaddafi regime carried out an extraordinary clandestine lobbying operation to try to stop Nato’s bombardment of Libya, and believed the western allies were likely to launch a full-scale invasion in “either late September or October”.

Secret documents in Tripoli seen by the Guardian reveal the desperate attempts made by the Libyan government in its final months to influence US and world opinion. It approached key international opinion formers from the US president Barack Obama downwards. The regime tried to persuade the Democratic congressman — a well-known rebel who voted against Nato military action in Libya, and opposed the Iraq war — to visit Tripoli as part of a hastily arranged “peace mission”. The Libyan government offered to pay all Kucinich’s costs related to the trip, including “travel expenses and accommodation”.